Thrustmaster T.Flight Full Kit X Review

Manufacturer: Thrustmaster
Where to Buy: Thrustmaster
RRP: £159.99

Thrustmaster is well renowned for creating some of the finest racing wheels out there with gamers often seen kitting out their sim rigs with expensive yet incredible realistic wheels in the last few years. In fact, you only have to take a peek at our review of the Thrustmaster T248 to see what quality can be on offer, but it turns out they are also more than capable of bringing an ultra-realistic experience to fans of the flight sim experiences too, or at least they are hoping to with one of their latest pieces of kit, the Thrustmaster T.Flight Full Kit X. With this, Thrustmaster look to bring players even closer to the action in the myriad of flight titles available for Xbox and PC, and with Flight Simulator releasing the Top Gun expansion to go along with the recently released movie, what better time to see how their latest piece of kit holds up.

Now the T.Flight Full Kit X is seen as an entry-level peripheral by Thrustmaster, but don’t let that put you off. Included in this kit is the T.Flight Hotas One which comes in two parts, the joystick, and the throttle. Both of these are easily assembled into one complete unit or can be used as separate items and it only takes a minute or two to get everything set up, with an Allen key supplied underneath the unit, and a USB 2.0 connection ensuring it’s good to go nice and quickly one you’ve got it set up in you’re preferred way, no matter if you are using your Xbox console or PC.

Joining the T.Flight Hotas One in the box is the T.Flight Rudders to ensure you have full control over every aspect of your aircraft in-game and much like the T.Flight Hotas One, the Flight Rudders are connected quickly and easily to the Hotas One via an ethernet style port in the side of the joystick, with no further USB connection required.

The first thing to notice off the bat is this product brings a rather sturdy and solid feel when in hand and whilst the plastic could maybe do with a little less shine to stop it holding that ‘cheap’, the general feel of it is smooth and comfortable.

With any peripheral, it’s not always feasible in the typical household to have things laying around and set up all the time and T.Flight Full Kit X is easy to move around should you need to quickly move it, but also weighty enough that it won’t be slipping around your desk with every movement either.

Whilst each item can be used separately, combining them as one complete unit is by far the most efficient way to use it and with a ton of buttons included on each item, you’ll want everything close together to access it all with relative ease.

Now whilst it’s all well and good having the right weight and compact size to be used on a regular basis, the key here is having a device that functions the way it’s intended to, and after more than 30 hours of flights across Elite Dangerous, Ace Combat 7 and Microsoft Flight Simulator, I can safely say that the T.Flight Full Kit X is certainly capable of delivering a believable flight experience, and as someone who has taken to the skies for some daring lessons more than once, it certainly matches up with the real thing enough to feel like the real deal.

To help keep you in the air, whilst also allowing you to navigate the various menus and options on the games, the kit comes with many different buttons which can be set to your choosing within games in a custom configuration but from the box, you’ll utilize pitch and roll by moving the joystick back and forth, or side to side, whilst the underside of the joystick also comes with a moveable wheel to set a level of resistance you feel comfortable with.

There are 8 buttons that come as part of the joystick, with a multi-directional switch, a rapid-fire trigger, and other buttons labeled B1, B2, and F2, which can be configured as you want, and the Xbox Guide button as well as start and select – yes, I’m calling them that!

The throttle meanwhile comes with Y, B, X, and A buttons on the front, and a paddle on the back as well as some additional options mounted including buttons for Previous, Next, B3, B4, and B5 which again can be configured to make the most use of. The layout of these isn’t always the most convenient with the Y button particularly feeling a little awkward to reach but that is more of a nit-pick than any real deserving criticism.  

As for the T.Flight Rudder Pedals, these bring sliding foot pedals with good resistance and allow for movement forwards and backward on each to allow you to set up breaking and rudder support where necessary. This isn’t necessary as the Hotas One Joystick and Throttle are more than capable of bringing a believable experience, but it certainly adds to the experience when using them altogether.

For me, whilst there are flight kits out there that look to bring the weight and feel of a real plane to your living room, the T.Flight Full Kit X is without a doubt a fantastic way to introduce yourself to the world of flight kits. Across all games I was able to test it on, the feel and quality stood up to the expectations and was able to deliver an incredible experience, whilst additionally anyone with a Meta Quest 2 laying around will find the Full Kit X really shines when mixed with a VR experience such as Microsoft Flight Simulator or Elite Dangerous by really cranking up the realism.

Conclusion

Overall, if you’re looking for something that can change the way you play, then this is by no means a bad way to go. At approximately £159.99 it isn’t the cheapest option available but when looking for quality, you’ll get what you pay for, and at this price, I’d argue you’ll certainly get your value out of it should you wish to jump in.

Hardware provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.